In the field of telecommunications it is known to provide user equipment with certain functionality enabling them to be adapted to different situations. For example, a user equipment's method of notifying a user of incoming information such as an incoming call may be muted to avoid the user or other people around the user being disturbed. This has the disadvantage that the user is unaware of the incoming information and may not be notified of it in a timely manner.
It is also known to provide parallel ringing functionality within telecommunication networks, such that a call may be routed to several devices in parallel, a user answering the call on one device causing the calls to the other devices to be discontinued.
User equipment can also be configured to automatically answer incoming calls, allowing a user using headphones in association with a user equipment to be able to respond to a call without interacting with the user equipment itself, which may be useful when the user is driving for example.
There are circumstances where a user may not wish to be disturbed but where it is important that he is notified of certain events. It would be desirable to allow a user to receive certain incoming information, while not being disturbed by other incoming information.
US2010/0329441 discloses a phone that has an activation password or control code that allows an authorised caller to control the phone and in some cases to activate a remotely controlled hands-free audio function on the phone. The invention addresses the problem of a call recipient who is unable to acknowledge the presence of an incoming call in a timely manner, while recognising that many calls will be nuisance calls and the user may prefer not to answer them. The phone is configured such that it automatically answers any call and then requests validation. Where validation is forthcoming it activates the loudspeaker while where it is not it does not do so.